I have a Spectra VHF 110W Radio with an A9 head and 1 DEK. Everything works, no errors, programming fine, perfect working order.
Now I want to get the Siren/PA. I am only going to use the PA and Ex. Rad, as well as the air horn. (Programming the siren functions would be illegal for me to do).
Now I have read you have to enable the Siren and PA to get the airhorn to work. I also will add the SIREN and MAN button to the DEK that comes with the Siren/PA module I am going to get. The Module is a HLN1185E with Motorola Astro Spectra printed on it. This is because I found out that people were saying stuff defaulted to WAIL. However some say that doesn't effect the Spectra, because I checked and there is an option in RSS about what to do after loss of power. You can select "Last State" or "Off", so i will select off. I am still going to add those buttons just as a fail safe. Some also said you MUST have the Siren button to use the Air horn anyways.
Ok, now here is my question lol
I know there are selections for power output, such as 65, 75 and 100 Watts (as well as 135 if you have two speakers).
Now some people were saying about the quality of Dynamax speakers blowing and stuff, as well as saying they don't. So I have decided to narrow it down to two models that people were not having much trouble with. This would be the Federal BP100 and the Whelen SA314. They are both 11 ohms and 100 Watts.
Now on http://www.onfreq.com, they were saying about how a hi line (or sumtin like that) where the spectra Siren/PA could get up to ~16 Volts of power, increasing the Power Watts by up to a 30% increase and that the speaker better have a power rating of that increase.
So the problem is, is that the speaker is rated at 100W, and the default for the Siren is 100W. Now obviously if I wanted to be safe I could put it to 75W, and i checked even with a 30% increase, it would be just under the rated 100W.
But http://www.onfreq.com said that the cable had to be modified and you had to move a pin (the big square connector that goes to the Siren/PA). They said you needed a special tool or a home made one, so maybe someone could tell me about a home made one? Also, he says when you open it there is some membrane that you almost always break when opening it. I don't think he means the cable won't work after that, but the seal will never be the same again or sumtin. Also, is it worth this much trouble if the Siren/PA is already set to 100W? Will it be a problem about the voltage spike if it happened? I also heard that the Spectra Siren likes to spit out extra watts sometimes? Hopefully, since the one I am getting is the latest revision, these problems are fixed.
Also, any other Speaker suggestions? (used) Do Dynamax's have that bad of failure rate with the Spectra Siren/PA? I also heard that CPI is a good brand as well?
As of now, I am ONLY looking at good brand sirens (that are also cheap used), such as Federal, Whelen, and CPI. Maybe Code 3 as well. Just wondering on what you think I should do. I am hoping someone had to do this before (change the watts). Someone said you change it inside the Siren/PA with a jumper, but like I said, someone else says it is the pins, so I am not sure which one to believe (or if both are true!).
To anyone who replies, thanks for all the help! I really appreciate it!
--linkinpark9812
